Chapter 27
I've been home from practice for about an hour. Its 5:00 and Derek text me earlier and said he would pick me up at 5:30. I've already had my shower and fixed my hair. I curled my hair and put my make up on. I'm wearing black shorts, a sparkly gold tank top, and black flip flops. The shorts are really short and show off my legs really well. I put on jewelry and now I'm sitting on the couch waiting for him to come. I've been going crazy all day wondering where he is taking me. I hear a knock on the door. I get off the couch and look threw the hole. Its Derek. I open the door and he looks mighty fine. He has on black jeans and a nice blue shirt that brings out the color of his eyes. His shirt is tucked in with a leather jacket on. His hair is slicked back like it always is and he looks incredible.
" You look very hot." I say
" So do you." he says blushing
I reach over and give him a kiss on the cheek. My lipstick came off on his cheek where I kissed him. I lick my thumb and rub the lipstick off his cheek. He just looks at me like I'm crazy.
" Sorry, my lipstick left a mark on your cheek where I kissed you." I say
" It's cool, I just haven't had anybody do that to me since I was little. When all those old women would come up to you and pinch your cheeks and say aren't you the cutest thing and then kiss you on both sides of your cheeks. My mom was always licking her thumb and wiping the marks away."
" Never had that happen to me. I don't really like it when random people touch my face."
He walks closer towards me and grabs my hips. Then he pulls me closer to him.
" I'm glad you don't mind me touching your face." he whispers
He then leans in and kisses my lips. Hard. His hands are wrapped around my waist almost touching my butt. My arms are wrapped around his neck holding him closer to me. Our tongues have already invaded each others mouths and we are kissing very passionately. He slowly pulls away biting my lip in a very seductive way. We are both breathing hard.
" If I don't stop kissing you now we'll never leave your apartment." he says panting
" I know." I say blushing
He takes my hand and our fingers intertwine. We walk out of my apartment and go to his car. He leads me over to the passenger side and opens the door for me. I get in and he closes the door and walks around the car and then gets in. He starts the car and pulls out on the highway. We have been driving for about 30 minutes and I have no idea where we are. I've been in LA enough to know my way around but I have no idea where we are going.
" Are you going to tell me where we're going?"
" Nope, it's a surprise."
" Not even a little hint?"
" I'm excited about it and I hope you will be too."
" That's not a hint." I say giggling
" I know, just trust me."
" I do."
He holds the steering wheel with one hand and picks up my hand with his other. He gently kisses it and then our fingers intertwine. We sit and listen to the radio while we ride. Every now and then Derek will hear a song come on that he likes and will start singing. We ride around a little bit longer until he is going up a rode and then comes to a complete stop.
" Are we there?" I ask
" No, we still have about 3 or 4 miles."
" Okay, good. I'm ready to see where we're going."
" I need you to do one thing?"
" What is it?"
He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a blind fold.
" I want you to put this on. I want this to be a big surprise."
" Do I have too?"
" I really want you too and remember your going to have to trust me."
" Okay I'll put it on."
He puts the blind fold on me. " Can you see anything?" he asks
" No." I answer truthfully
" Okay good. We are almost there."
He leans over and kisses my lips. I then hear him start the car again. I cant see anything at all. I can hear the radio playing and Derek singing. I wish I could see but this date must mean a lot to Derek. He is really happy about it. I bet he's also nervous too just in case I don't like where we are going. There is no possible way that can happen. As long as I'm with him I'm happy. We've been riding for about 10 minutes and then I feel the car come to a stop.
" Okay, we are here. I'm going to come open the door for you and then lead you to where we are going. No peeking."
" Okay. I wont."
I hear the car door shut and then I hear mine open. I feel Derek grab my hand and I use it to get out of the car. Our fingers intertwine and I let Derek lead me to wherever it is that we're going. We walk for a little bit and then Derek stops.
" Okay, we're here. Take your blind fold off."
I take it off and I see a big boat in front of me. We are standing on a boat dock. The boat is white and not as big as a ship but still pretty big. In big black letters on the side of the boat it says "Shawnough." He must have bought the boat and named it after us. This is the sweetest thing anybody has ever don't for me. I look over at him and he is grinning at me.
" Well, do you like it? We are going to have dinner on it and ride around in the ocean."
" Do I like it? I love it!" I scream
" Good, because its our boat. Anytime we want to take it out we can. I have hired a person to drive it."
He is standing in front of me while he's talking. I jump at him and he catches me and spins me around. I kiss him on the cheek.
" This is the best slash sweetest thing anybody has ever done for me." I yell
" I'm glad you like it."
I quickly jump out of his arms.
" I'm so sorry, I forgot about your neck."
" Your fine. Your light as a feather so it doesn't hurt."
" I just don't want to hurt it any worse by pulling on it."
" Its fine, forget about my neck. Lets go on the boat."
He takes my hand and we walk out to the edge of the dock. We have to climb up the ladder to get on. I get on the ladder first to climb it. I get all the way to the top of the boat and then turn around and Derek is still standing on the dock.
" What are you doing?" I ask
" Admiring the view of you climbing that ladder in those short shorts. Your legs muscles are out of this world."
" Shut up and get up here with me." I say laughing
" Coming right up." he says grinning
When he gets up the ladder we take a tour of the boat. We meet the captain and he explains some of the safety procedures. When he gets done talking we walk to the front of the boat and lay down on the mat. Derek is leaning back and I'm sitting between his legs laying on his chest. Our fingers and intertwined together and are laying in my stomach. The captain has started the engine and we are riding around.
" I love the boat."
" Me too, I especially love it because it ours."
" I love the name. That was really sweet of you."
" It took me a while and then it just came to me all of a sudden. I was like it has to be it. That's perfect."
" It is absolutely perfect."
He leans down and kisses me the top of my head. I turn around towards him and kiss his lips.
" I love you." I say
" I love you too."
I turn around and lay back down on his chest. He has his hands on my stomach and are rubbing them up and down.
" Are you hungry? I got a chef to prepare us food for tonight."
" Yes, I am starving."
" Lets go eat then."
He stands up and then reaches down to help me up. I take his hand and he leads me to the back of the boat. There is a table set up with a red table cloth and two chairs across from each other. There are two plates and two napkins with silver ware sitting on the napkins. There is also two candles that are lit sitting in the middle of the table. He leads me over to the chair and pulls it out for me. I take a seat and then he sits down across from me. As soon as we sit down a man comes up wearing a apron.
" What would you two like to drink?"
" Water for me." I say
" The same." Derek replies
" Okay, I'll be back in a minute to get your order." he says while handing us two menus.
" So we are having Chinese food tonight. Do you know what you want?" Derek asks
" I always get the Chow Mein every time I eat at a Chinese restaurant."
" What is that?"
" Its has noodles, vegetables, and can also have chicken in it. I love it."
" Okay, I'll trust you and get the same thing." he says
" You wont regret it. How did you decide for us to have Chinese?"
" Well I figured you liked it since you had to eat it while you were in Beijing."
" Yeah I didn't really like it until I went there. Now I could eat it like everyday."
" I'm glad you like it."
The waiter comes back and gets our orders. 30 or so minutes later he comes back with our food. My eyes light up when I see it.
" Dig in." I say
I watch Derek grab his fork and take a bite of the noodles. He starts smiling instantly.
" That's good." he says
" Told you so." I say grinning
It takes us about 10 minutes to eat our food and then the waiter comes back and gets the plates.
" Would you like any dessert?"
" I would love some vanilla ice cream." Derek says
" I don't want anything. Thank you though."
He leaves with Derek's order of ice cream. We wait a minute or so and then he brings back a fancy bowl with 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream. Derek grabs his spoon and takes a bite.
" Ahh man, this is awesome. I love ice cream." he says
" I can tell." I say laughing
" Here take a bite."
He holds out the spoon and I open my mouth. The ice cream slides right off the spoon and into my mouth.
" That is good." I say
" Told you." he says laughing
I'm watching Derek while he is eating. He just looks extra good tonight. I don't know what it is. It may be the shirt bringing out his eyes. I stop day dreaming when I feel cold liquid on my cheek.
" Why did you do that?"
" I was talking to you and you were not even listening to me."
I get up out of my chair and walk over to him. I sit down in his lap and throw my legs over his thigh. I dip my finger in the bowl and get some ice cream. I wipe it on his nose.
" There is payback." I say
He reaches his hand back in the bowl.
" Not uh. You cant do it again." I say
" I could."
" Please don't. I don't want to be all sticky."
" Okay, fine."
Very quickly I dip my finger in the bowl and wipe some on his cheek.
" That wasn't fair."
" I know." I say laughing
He reaches for the napkin to wipe it off and I grab his hand.
" I'll do it."
I lean my head over and kiss his cheek getting all the ice cream off of it. I then kiss his lips.
" You taste like vanilla." I say
" Ha, I would believe so. Are you done eating?"
" Yes."
" Let's go dance."
" There is no music."
" There will be."
I get off of his lap and he takes my hand and leads me towards the front of the boat. He walks over and grabs the I-dock and plugs it in and then sits his phone in it. He cuts some music on. He then walks back over to me and reaches his hand out to me.
" May I have this dance?" he asks
" Of course." I reply
We walk over to the middle of the floor and I wrap my arms around his neck. He wraps his arms around my waist. There is definitely a big height difference between us since I'm wearing flip flops. We dance through the whole song. When the song is over he dips me to the side and bends down and kisses me on the lips. He sits me back up on my feet and I grab him and wrap him in a big hug.
" I love you." I whisper in his ear
" I love you too. Lets go watch the sun set."
" Okay."
We walk up to the very front of the boat. I stand up against the rail and Derek stands behind me. He has his arms wrapped around my waist laying his hands on my stomach. I have my hands laying on top of his. I'm so short standing in front of him. He is at the perfect height to rest his chin on the top of my head. We are facing the direction where the sun is fixing to go down. I love watching the sun set, they are always pretty.
" Lets take a picture." I say
" Okay."
I take my phone out of my pocket. Derek moves his chin off my head and nuzzles his face in my neck. I snap the picture and then show him.
" I love that. Send it to me later." he says
" Okay, I will."
I set the picture as my wallpaper and then put it back in my pocket. We get back into our previous position and then sun starts going down.
" Its so beautiful." Derek says
" I agree 100 percent."
After the sun goes down the captain cuts on some of the lights on the boat. Its not near as bright as it was earlier but its fine. As long as I can see Derek's face I'm not complaining. We have walked backed to the mat and sat down.
" I hate to say this but are you ready to go? We have a long drive back home." he says
" I'm not ready but we should go. We have a early practice tomorrow for all the time we missed today."
" Your right."
He stands up and then offers his hand out to me. I take it and he leads me over to the captain's place.
" Can you head back to the dock?" Derek asks
" Yeah, we aren't far. It won't take but about 5 or 10 minutes."
" Okay, thanks."
Derek is still holding my hand and he leads me back over to the mat. We sit down facing each other. We are both sitting with our legs crossed.
" Your eyes look really beautiful tonight." he says
" Thank you. Yours do too." I say
" Tonight yours are like a gold color. They look amazing, let me take a picture of you."
" Are you serious? A picture of just me?" I ask chuckling
" Of course I'm serious."
He takes out his phone and points it in my direction.
" Okay, one, two, three." he says
I cant help it and I start laughing.
" This is the best picture I have ever seen." he says
" Let me see it."
He holds out his phone for me to look at it.
" I'm laughing." I say
" I know, but it looks great. I love seeing you laugh."
I hand the phone back to him. He puts it back up and grabs my hands. He brings both of them up to his lips and kisses each one. Our fingers intertwine and we are sitting there staring at each other.
" Shawn I've got something that I want to tell you."
" Okay, what is it?" I ask nervously
" I've had a rough couple of days. I mean with us fighting and all. I know we have already talked about this but I have more to say. I've been through pretty tough break ups before and I've had long relationships that I have had to end. With our relationship I didn't know if you wanted to work things out or if you were going to give up on it. I said a couple of mean things to you. I mean I accused you of cheating on me with Ryan. That was uncalled for because anyone that knows you knows that you don't cheat."
" Derek, its fine. I shouldn't have even let him in to talk to me. It was stupid on my part. I should have just made him leave or not opened the door."
" Its not your fault. Don't blame yourself because it takes two people in a relationship."
" I know and I cant help it. I mean if I would have just made him leave we wouldn't have even been fighting."
" Yes we would have. Remember Mark couldn't keep his hands off of you."
" I don't want to talk about him, Ryan, or about the fighting. I just want us to be happy right here and right now. Lets forget about what happened and move on."
" I will move on in just a minute. I still haven't told you what I wanted to tell you."
" Okay, go ahead."
" Alright so back to what I was saying. I had no idea if we were over or if you even wanted to talk to me. I was depressed and I just didn't know what to do. We haven't been dating a long time but it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. I couldn't get over the fact that I just walked out of your apartment without us being okay. I should have stayed and talked it out with you instead of leaving mad and upset. When Mark was holding you while you were crying all I could think about was how that should be me and not him."
He takes a breath and then continues.
" I went to hell and back just in the short length of time that we were fighting. It was pure hell and I didn't know what to do about it. It made me re-think about my life and how it would be if you weren't in it. I want you in my life and I don't want you to ever leave. What I want to tell you is that it made me realize that I not only love you, but I'm in love with you. You are the best thing that has happened to me. I don't want to loose what we have. I haven't had a relationship in a while but when I met you I could just see us together. Like I tell you all the time you're my little spark and have just come up in my life and made it better and brighter. I love you so much Shawn Machel Johnson. I'm so glad we meet each other and God put you in my life."
I take a few deep breaths and wipe the tears off of my face that are running down my cheeks.
" Derek. I. Love. You. So. Much." I say between sobs
He leans over and wraps me in a hug. I can barley breathe between crying and him holding me so tight but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but in his arms. When he lets go of me I try to collect myself again before talking.
" Hey, its okay, don't cry." he say
He puts his thumb on my face and starts wiping the tears away. After a few seconds I stop crying.
" Derek, I feel the same way about you completely. I'm so lucky to have a guy like you. I think God everyday that I get to see you and I met you. I truly believe that maybe my gymnastics career didn't work out because it was my fate to come on the show and meet you. After I retired I didn't know what I was going to do with my life. Gymnastics was all I knew for so many years and when I thought what I wanted to do nothing stood out. Then I got the call to dance again and I couldn't possibly turn that down. I didn't have any confidence in myself and already you have given that to me. I haven't ever been emotional in a dance and in just one week you pulled that out of me. You told me to show vulnerability is to show strength. I would have never worn that Mambo costume but you got me too. I can't think you enough for doing that for me. You might not have none you were doing it when you did it but I will always be in debt for that."
I take a big deep breath and then continue.
" I love you so much and I think I have been in love with you for a while. After I hurt my knee again and you took care of me it really showed how much you cared. I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend. Your sweet, funny, charming, good looking, and all around a great person. The list could go on forever. I just want you to know that I'm not going anywhere and I will never just give up on us. We have something to special and I don't give up on anything."
He stands up and reaches his hand out to me. I take it and he pulls me closer to him. He puts his hand on my cheek and then runs his fingers through my hair. I lean in close to him and then he leans in closer. Our lips meet and it's the best moment. All of our emotions mixed up in one kiss. I wrap my arms around his neck and he has his wrapped around my waist. When we pull away for air he picks me up and spins me around. He stops spinning when he sees somebody behind us. He sits me down and I turn around and the captain is behind us.
" I'm sorry to interrupt but we are back at the dock."
" Okay, thank you." I reply
" Yes, thank you." Derek says
He leans down and kisses me on the lips one more time.
" Are you ready?"
" Yeah, if you are." I say
He takes my hand and kisses it and then our fingers intertwine.
" Please stay the night with me." he says
" Of course."
We walk over to the ladder and Derek goes down first. I then go down after him. When I get to the bottom he takes my hand and leads me to the car. He hasn't let go of me since we talked earlier. When we get to the car he opens the door and I get in. He walks around and climbs in. He then starts the car and pulls out on the road. He cuts on the radio and starts singing. I take his hand out of his lap and lace my fingers between his. We lay our intertwined hand on the console and Derek continues singing along to the radio.
I didn't know I drifted off to sleep until I feel Derek poking me.
" Shawn, wake up. We are at my house."
I unbuckle myself and get out of the car. Derek is standing in front of the car waiting on me.
" Do you want me to carry you, sleepyhead."
" No, I can walk. I wouldn't want you to hurt your neck."
" I've told you that holding you doesn't hurt. You weigh nothing, its like carrying air."
" I'm fine. I can walk like two feet to your back door."
He walks over to me and scoops me up in his arms. I wrap my arms around his neck and he's holding me like a baby.
" I told you I could walk."
" Yeah, maybe sleep walk."
" I'm 100 percent awake."
" Okay, whatever you say." he says laughing
He carries me through the door and then up the stairs. He lays me down on the bed and bends down and kisses me on the forehead. When he goes to pull away I motion for him to lean back down. He does and I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him. He falls down on the bed and runs his hands up and down my body. I run my fingers through his long blonde hair. He stops kissing me and lays his head on my chest. He places soft kisses on my bare chest that is showing. Then he moves up and starts kissing my neck. He starts at one side and kisses me all the way to the other side. I grab his head with both of my hands and gently bring him back up to my lips. I kiss him and then help him out of his jacket. Then I reach for the hem of his shirt and start to pull it off. It gets to his chest and then he stops kissing me and pulls his shirt back down.
" I don't want to go to far to fast." he says panting
" I can't help myself."
" Oh, believe me I know. I feel the same way."
I reach back up and kiss him on the lips and then run my fingers through his hair.
" You have great hair." I say
" Thank you, its getting really long."
We hear a noise and look over at the door and Mark is standing in the door way.
" Ahhhh, my eyes." he says while walking off
Derek quickly gets off of me and I readjust my shirt and shorts.
" I'll be right back." Derek says
" What the hell Mark, how long have you been standing there." I hear Derek ask.
" Not long. All I seen was you laying on top of her."
" Well you could have at least knocked on the door."
" Dude, I cleared my throat. I brought Romey back and I didn't know you would be having company."
" Okay, fine and thanks for watching him."
" Be good to her. Don't treat her like shit. She has been through a lot." Mark says
" I know bro. I really love her."
" Just promise me."
" I promise."
I walk out of the bedroom blushing. Romey comes running up to me and I drop to my squat down to pet him. He starts licking me in the face and I start laughing. He gets so excited that he knocks me over and I fall on my butt. I really start laughing hard then.
" Hey Romey, quit." Derek says
He walks over to me and helps me up.
" He kind of got a little excited." Derek says
" I agree." I say still laughing
" Well, I'm going to head home and I'll see ya'll tomorrow."
" Bye." Derek and I say in unison
We walk back into the bedroom and he lays down on the bed. Romey comes in and joins us.
" Do you have a shirt I can wear for tonight."
" Yeah, they are were they usually are."
I go over to his drawer and pull out a shirt.
" Is it bad that I know exactly where your shirts are?" I ask
" No I don't think so." he says laughing
I walk over to the light switch and cut it off. I take off my shirt and my shorts and then put the shirt on. I cut the light back on after I have changed. I walk over to the bed and crawl in beside Derek.
" I got to change clothes before we get comfortable." he says
" Okay."
He gets out of the bed and walks over to the dresser and pulls out some pajama pants. He takes off his shirt and then his pants. Then he slips the other pants on and walks back over to the bed. He climbs in and snuggles up next to me. I'm laying on my side facing his bedroom door. He is laying beside me on his side and his arm is laying over my stomach. I have my fingers intertwined with his. We are spooning and we are so close that I can feel him breathing in my ear. It sends shivers up my body. Romey is curled up at the foot of the bed.
" Sleep tight and I love you." I say
" Goodnight, I love you too." he replies
Hope you liked it. I loved this chapter so much. Please review.- Mallory